Jo lives in a small town in southern Japan. She lives with her two children and Japanese husband and is learning more everyday about the world of Japanese agriculture and culture.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Praising Children

I've spent the last couple of days getting a bit obsessed with a project for my 5 month old niece (I would love to show your more than a sneak peak, but it will have to wait till after Christmas!) and so when it was obvious I wasn't about to jump up and make dinner tonight (it was a public holiday) the kids kindly decided they would do it. I sat at the table listening to their conversation and holding onto my chair so I didn't race in to help them.... most of the comments revolved around the fact that the fried rice was turning rather black and whether it was better to scrape all the black stuff in (my son insisted it was delicious) or just let it keep baking onto the wok and try to deal with it later. The other part of the conversation was about the fact that there was lots of meat in the rice, but no vegetables - and then they remembered that onion was a vegetable so it made it a balanced meal. In the end I think the black stuff was mostly scrapped in with the rice and the flavour was very "unique". But of course the fact that neither my husband nor I had to step foot in the kitchen was too much of a reward for us that we both ate every last bite with a smile on our faces and plenty of praise for the children.